The number of claimants on the Live Register unexpectedly rose in September. On a seasonally adjusted basis the Live Register total recorded a monthly increase of 1,600 or 0.8 per cent last month, bringing the total to 212,600.
Nonetheless this was still one of the lowest totals recorded since 2008. It also represents an annual decrease of 38,589 or nearly 16 per cent.
While the register is not a measure of unemployment as people with part-time work can be entitled to benefits, it reflects conditions in the labour market and has fallen in tandem with the State’s official unemployment measure, which was put at 5.4 per cent in September.
The latest Live Register showed a monthly increase of 300 men and 1,300 women in September.
The number of long-term unemployed on the register at the end of September was 86,406, which equated to an annual decrease of nearly 18 per cent.
There were 42,124 casual and part-time workers on the register, down 20 per cent on an annual basis. The percentage of under-25s on the register now stands at 11 per cent, down from 11.7 per cent in September.
A breakdown of the figures shows craft workers remains the largest occupational group on the register, accounting for nearly 17 per cent, despite the fact that the number in the group fell over the year by 8,294 to 34,521 and recorded the largest annual decrease of any sector.
